The Pinetown Regional Court has sentenced two men from Oakland, Mariannhill, to an effective 30 years' imprisonment for luring victims into armed robberies through fake Facebook Marketplace transactions.
Two men have been sentenced to an effective 30 years’ imprisonment by the Pinetown Regional Court for robbing unsuspecting victims after luring them through Facebook Marketplace under the guise of buying and selling gaming consoles and computers between May and June 2024.
According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, Siphesihle Magwaza, 29, and Bukhosibakhe Ndledla, 32, posed as prospective buyers or sellers before arranging to meet their victims in Mariannhill’s Okland area.
The pair sent victims a location pin and, upon their arrival, escorted them to an abandoned building where other accomplices were waiting.There, the victims were threatened with knives and firearms before being robbed of their belongings.
“In some instances, the accused also gained access to the complainants’ banking applications on their cellphones and transferred funds from their accounts,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
